First pushed into Bangladesh and then ending up in a prison there for “illegal entry”, 26-year-old Sunali Khatun, who is in her late stage of pregnancy, walked out of Chapainawabganj jail on Monday – almost five months after her ordeal began with a team of Delhi Police picking her up, along with her husband and son, on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
Sunali’s release from a jail in Bangladesh on a local court’s order came on a day when the Supreme Court of India asked the Central government to consider bringing her back and her eight-year-old son “on humanitarian grounds”.
A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, while hearing the Centre’s petition challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order quashing the deportation of Sunali and five others, took note of her advanced stage of pregnancy and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to seek instruction on allowing her to enter India through the India-Bangladesh border in Malda.
Mehta urged the court to give him two days to seek instructions from the government. “We understand that the court is asking us to consider the case on humanitarian grounds. We will look into it… We are all concerned with the precedent being set,” Mehta told the Bench.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, who represented Sunali’s family, told the Bench that if the Centre allowed the pregnant woman, then her husband could not be left behind and therefore, should also be allowed to enter India.
The Supreme Court, however, did not say anything about bringing her husband back and posted the matter for hearing on December 3.
Earlier in the day, a court in Chapainawabganj district of Bangladesh granted bail to Sunali Khatun, her eight-year-old son, her husband, Danish, and 32-year-old Sweety Bibi and her two sons (aged 6 and 16) on humanitarian grounds.
Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Advocate Shofiq Enaetullah of Chapainawabganj district court, said: “Today, we pleaded to the magistrate that Sunali is pregnant, and the group also has children. We pleaded that they be released from jail and granted bail.”
“After hearing our plea, senior judicial Magistrate Asraful Islam ordered their release on bail. Apart from a bail bond of 5000 Bangladesh Taka, the court laid down the conditions that Sunali and others should not leave the country. The court released them on the responsibility of me and another Bangladesh national Faruk Sheikh, who is a resident of Chapainawabganj,” said Enaetullah.
“This is good news for the family and us. Now, we are waiting for the Indian government to coordinate with the Bangladesh government for their push back to India. Earlier, the court had communicated to the Indian Embassy in Dhaka about legal push back… We are so happy that at least they will finally be out of jail,” added Enaetullah.
Mofizul Islam, a social worker and a family friend of Sunali, who has been camping in Chapainawabganj district since their arrest on August 21, said, “We will rent an apartment for them in Chapainawabganj. We will provide all care possible. Now, I wish our country would make arrangements for her return.”
Reacting to his daughter Sunali’s release, Bhodu Sheikh said, “I appeal to the Indian government to immediately bring her back. First, the Calcutta High Court ordered them to be brought back within four weeks. That ended, and nothing happened. A Bangladesh court later declared them Indian citizens and ordered their return. Still, nothing happened. Now, the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to consider her return. It is the highest court of our country. We have a ray of hope.”
“We are so happy that at least she and others are out of jail. We will wait for her return. She must deliver her baby here in her home. I appeal to the Indian government to immediately bring her back,” added Bhodu Sheikh from Paikar village in Birbhum.
Sweety Bibi’s family welcomed the news. “It is so far the best news we have heard. Will they be brought home? If yes, then when? This is the question now,” said Amir Khan, brother of Sweety Bibi.
In a video statement after their release, Sunali and Sweety thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for helping them. “We appeal to Mamata Banerjee to make sure we return home. We want to return home,” Sunali said in the video.
Sunali Khatun, who hails from Paikar village in Birbhum district of West Bengal, worked as a ragpicker in Delhi. They were detained by Delhi Police on June 26 on suspicion of being Bangladeshi migrants and pushed back into the neighbouring country.
While their families here in West Bengal filed a habeas corpus petition in the Calcutta High Court, Sunali, Sweety, and others were arrested by the Bangladesh police in Chapainawabganj district on August 21 under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.
On September 26, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court directed that six members of the two families from Birbhum — including Sunali — be brought back to West Bengal within four weeks.
While the Centre appealed against the High Court’s order in the Supreme Court, a senior judicial magistrate of the District Court in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, on October 3, declared both the families of Sunali and Sweety as Indian citizens based on their Aadhaar cards and residential addresses in West Bengal, ordering their “pushback” to India. The order stated, “In this situation, for the matter of legal pushback to India and other official formalities, it is necessary to inform the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh.”
Last month, the Supreme Court suggested to the Centre that the residents of Bengal deported to Bangladesh on the suspicion of being foreigners be brought back as an interim measure and given the opportunity of a hearing.